Question

Describe, in detail, at least THREE main reasons why health care costs are so high and continue to increase. The essay should be a minimum of 400 words in length and you need use AND CITE three credible references both WITHIN and at the end of the answer.

Answer 1

Ans) An aging population, lifestyle choices (like exercise and nutrition), and genetics contribute to the growing prevalence of chronic illnesses. Chronic diseases contribute to rising healthcare costs because they are expensive to treat. Eighty-six percent of all healthcare spending is for patients with a chronic disease.

Health care costs are rising.

According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) health care spending high cost in the United States.

The JAMA study tried to establish how 5 key factors – population growth, population aging, disease prevalence or incidence, medical service utilization and service price and intensity – were associated with health care increases over time.

Each of the factors mentioned here are responsible for some part of the reason health care costs are rising although none is solely responsible. Increasing costs for medical services, caused by both a growing and aging population play a large role but so do other factors like the growing number of people with chronic disease, increased costs for outpatient and emergency room care, higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. These factors are exacerbated by inefficiency and lack of transparency in the world of medicine.

Solutions being tried include employer-sponsored wellness programs, especially those that target chronic illness. Other solutions include increased reliance on medical technology to remove inefficiencies and attempts to achieve greater transparency to help lower costs.

For individuals, the primary way to reduce cost is to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to have regular checkups to avoid the development of long-term health problems.

Ways to reduce healthcare costs:

- Shop around for better insurance.

- Lower your prescription costs.

- Examine your medical bills.

- Understand your health benefits.

- Get ahead of health issues before they escalate.

- Open a flexible spending account.

- Sign up for a health savings account.